The present invention relates generally to the field of vehicles, and specifically to the field of self-driving vehicles. Still more specifically, the present invention relates to the field of managing where self-driving vehicles travel along roadways.
Self-driving vehicles (SDVs) are vehicles that are able to autonomously drive themselves through private and/or public spaces. Using a system of sensors that detect the location and/or surroundings of the SDV, logic within or associated with the SDV controls the speed, propulsion, braking, and steering of the SDV based on the sensor-detected location and surroundings of the SDV.
One feature of SDVs is that they are able to drive with a level of precision that far exceeds that of human drivers. This provides many advantages over human-driven vehicles, such as accident avoidance, better gas mileage, the ability to drive closer together (due to reaction times that far exceed those of humans), etc. However, one drawback to this high level of precision is that SDVs tend to operate in a perfectly uniform manner. That is, when SDVs travel along a same lane on a stretch of road, they all tend to travel exactly in the middle of the lane, in order to avoid crowding or hitting vehicles in adjacent lanes. Unfortunately, this uniform location results in the same part of the lane always being driven upon, which leads to premature rutting on the roadway.